Chief among the many important questions asked by Battlestar Galactica is the whole issue of why do machine-based lifeforms need to have sex? Since the Cylons are shown frequently in sexual relationships with humans, viewers must wonder whether Cylons need to have sex with humans for some basic reason.

Here are several sex-related (or at least breeding-related) questions for which there are no immediate answers:

• Is there a plan to cross-breed the Cylons with the humans? If so, why?

• Are there Cylons who have infiltrated the Twelve Colonies whose purpose is to affect the course of human destiny and development through cross-breeding? If so, why?

• Are the sexual behaviors of the humans and the Cylons related somehow to both sets of religious beliefs?

• Do the humans from the Thirteen Colonies follow some religious imperative to seed the planetary civilizations and cultures of Earth as we know it?

These are the 5 essential questions asked by Battlestar Galactica from the miniseries through all of the third season.

Cross-Breeding

The cross-breeding question seems to have an obvious answer: Yes. The most stunning proof of this answer is that Karl “Helo” Agathon (a human male) and a Cylon female called Sharon (whose Galactica callsign is “Athena”) have produced a female child, Hera, who is half human and half Cylon. But, the purpose of this child has not yet been explained in any of the Battlestar Galactica episodes. Perhaps the answers to this question will have to wait until 2008 when the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica begins.

Infiltration and Seeding

The infiltration question also seems to have an obvious answer: Yes. Here again, there is clear proof. The Cylon female known as Caprica 6 manipulated Dr. Gaius Baltar sexually so that he would provide her and the Cylons with essential technical information that enables the Cylons to nuke the humans across all their home worlds. But, the apparent motives of the Cylons for nuking the humans seem unclear. Some Cylons even admit that the Cylons made a big mistake in attempting to kill all humans. Caprica 6 at times also seems to be genuinely in love with Dr. Gaius Baltar so that her motives as an enemy agent do not seem purely military in nature. More importantly, by the end of the third season, viewers are led to believe that at least 4 important humans aboard Galactica are probably Cylons. Understanding this apparent infilitration–if that’s what it really is–defies understanding, especially since this storytelling aspect is accompanied by the use of a Bob Dylan folk song from our world in a Battlestar Galactica episode! Maybe the fourth season will explain this puzzle to us? And, perhaps the use of “All Along The Watchtower” in Battlestar Galactica begins to suggest that Earth as we know it today was, in fact, seeded by the humans and Cylons in ways that the 1968 book Chariots of the Gods?: Unsolved Mysteries of the Past by Erik von Daniken suggested.

Religion

That anyone would ask questions about religion after watching this series no doubt brings great delight to Battlestar Galactica’s producers and writers. Few science fiction television series dare to deal with dieties and dogma. Apparently unafraid of being too controversial, Battlestar Galactica regularly compares and contrasts the humans’ polytheistic religion with the “one true God” religion of the Cylons. But, it seems unlikely that the series will attempt to resolve the question of the compatibility of these two religions, especially since leaving the question unresolved allows for a wealth of storytelling possibilities for Battlestar Galactica.

Law and Democracy

The Battlestar Galactica question as to whether law and democracy can survive in an ongoing war is perhaps the most compelling of all the questions asked by this series. Without any doubt, at the very essence of Battlestar Galactica storytelling across most of its episodes is the basic conflict between the behaviors necessary for victory in battle versus the behaviors necessary to maintain a lawful and democratic society. The injecting of this question into the series into science fiction storytelling–along with the various answers that viewers must inevitably find for themselves–is one of the most noteworthy accomplishments of Battlestar Galactica.